Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02295820 2000-O1-07
UV/21 PCT
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Prevue International, Inc. '
D 1085 PCT
INTERACTIVE PROGRAM GUIDE NAVIGATOR MENU SYSTEM
Backcrround of the Invention
This invention relates to video systems, and
more particularly, to navigation in interactive
television program guide systems.
Cable, satellite, and broadcast television
systems provide viewers with a large number of
television channels. Viewers have traditionally
consulted printed television program schedules to
determine the programs being broadcast at a particular
time. More recently, interactive electronic television
program guides have been developed that allow
television program information to be displayed on a
viewer's television.
Interactive program guides allow users to
access television program listings in different display
formats. For example, a user may desire to view a grid
of program listings organized in a channel-ordered
list. Alternatively, the user may desire to view
program listings organized by time, by theme (movies,
sports, etc.), or by title (i.e., alphabetically
ordered). Other program guide options allow the user
to set favorite channels, program a videocassette
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recorder, set an automatic timed reminder, or order
pay-per-view movies. Numerous other program guide
options are generally available in a typical
interactive program guide.
Program guide options are presented to the
user through a series of linked menus. The user makes
menu selections by pressing an "enter" or "select"
button on a remote control. However, because so many
program guide options are typically available,
interactive program guide menu structures have many
nested layers and are quite complex. As a result, the
user may have difficulty navigating through the menu
structure of the guide without becoming confused.
It is therefore an object of the present
25 invention to provide an interactive television program
guide with an improved logical structure that
facilitates navigation through the guide.
Summary of the Invention
This and other objects of the invention are
accomplished in accordance with the principles of the
present invention by providing an interactive program
guide system in which a logically flat navigator
structure is used to provide access to program guide
options. The navigator structure has a number of
selectable program guide categories, each of which
corresponds to a fairly broad range of program guide
services. For example, one program guide category
might relate to television program guide listings and
another program guide category might relate to digital
services. Because the program guide categories are
broad, all of the available features of an interactive
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f
television program guide may be organized using only a
few (e. g., five to ten) such program guide categories.
Each program guide category has associated program
guide options. For example, the program guide category
"television program guide" might have selectable
program guide options for "by time," "by channel," or
"themes," television program listings display options.
Only some of the available program guide
categories are typically displayed at a single time to
avoid visually cluttering the display screen. For
example, three program guide categories may be
displayed in a straight line across the top of the
user's display screen. Similarly, there is a limit to
the number of selectable program guide options that are
typically displayed at a time. Although a given
program guide category may have ten associated
selectable program guide options, only six of those
selectable program guide options are preferably
displayed at the same time.
To avoid visual clutter, the system
preferably displays only the selectable program guide
options associated with a single centrally-displayed
program guide category. The program guide options are
arranged directly beneath the central program guide
category in a horizontally-centered straight line that
is perpendicular to the line of program guide
categories.
Navigation may be controlled using a remote
control with a pair of vertical cursor keys and a pair of
horizontal cursor keys. A highlight region defines the
user's current location within the selectable program
guide options. Pressing a vertical cursor key moves
AMENDED SHEET
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the highlight region within the program guide options (e. g.,
by scrolling or paging the program guide options). Pressing
a horizontal cursor key causes a new set of program guide
options and a new associated program guide category to be
displayed in the horizontally central position of the
screen. Program guide categories and their associated
selectable program guide options may be organized in the
form of a logically continuous horizontally-linked loop, so
that the user can shift continuously through all of the
program guide categories and selectable program guide
options with the horizontal cursor keys.
If desired, additional columns of selectable
program guide options may be displayed adjacent to the
single column of selectable program guide options displayed
under the central program guide category. To avoid visual
clutter and to focus the attention of the user on the
currently available program guide options, the additional
columns of selectable program guide options are preferably
displayed with a diminished visibility relative to the
centrally displayed program guide options.
According to one aspect of the present invention,
there is provided an interactive program guide system in
which television program guide information is provided to a
distribution facility, comprising: control circuitry that:
receives the television program guide information from the
distribution facility; simultaneously displays a line of
program guide categories and a perpendicular line of
selectable program guide options that are associated with a
given one of the displayed program guide categories, such
that one end of the perpendicular line of selectable program
guide options is aligned with the given one of the displayed
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program guide categories; and replaces at least some of the
displayed program guide categories and selectable program
guide options with new program guide categories and
selectable program guide options by shifting the new program
guide categories and selectable program guide options into
position in place of the displayed program guide categories
and selectable program guide options.
According to another aspect of the invention,
there is provided a method for providing an interactive
program guide in which television program guide information
is provided to a distribution facility, comprising:
receiving the television program guide information from the
distribution facility; simultaneously displaying a line of
program guide categories and a perpendicular line of
selectable program guide options that are associated with a
given one of the displayed program guide categories, such
that one end of the perpendicular line of selectable program
guide options is aligned with the given one of the displayed
program guide categories; and replacing at least some of the
displayed program guide categories and selectable program
guide options with new program guide categories and
selectable program guide options by shifting the new program
guide categories and selectable program guide options into
position in place of the displayed program guide categories
and selectable program guide options.
Further features of the invention, its nature and
various advantages will be more apparent from the
accompanying drawings and the following detailed description
of the preferred embodiments.
Brief Description of the Drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a system in
accordance with the present invention.
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FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of
illustrative user equipment in accordance with the
present invention.
FIG. 3 is a generalized schematic block
diagram of portions of the illustrative user equipment
of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is an illustrative program guide
navigator display screen in accordance with the present
invention.
FIG. 5 is an illustrative remote control in
accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an illustrative program listings
display screen in accordance with the present
invention.
FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing
an illustrative logical arrangement for program guide
categories and associated selectable program guide
options in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a further illustrative program
guide navigator display screen in accordance with the
present invention.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
An illustrative system 10 for an interactive
television program guide in accordance with the present
invention is shown in FIG. 1. Main facility 12 provides
data from data source 14 to distribution facility 16 via
communications link 18. Link 18 may be a satellite link,
a telephone network link, a cable or fiber optic link, a
microwave link, a combination of such links, or any other
suitable communications path. If it is desired to
transmit video signals over link 18 in
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addition to data signals, a relatively high bandwidth
link such as a satellite link may generally be
preferred to a relatively low bandwidth link such as a
telephone line. Distribution facility I6 may be a
cable system headend, a broadcast distribution
facility, or a satellite television distribution
facility, and may have Internet access capabilities if
desired.
The data transmitted by main facility 12 to
distribution facility 16 includes television program
listings data (e. g., program times, channels, titles,
and descriptions) and data for additional services
other than television program listings. If desired,
some data may be provided using data sources at
facilities other than main facility 12.
Distribution facility 16 distributes the
television program listings data and the data for other
services to multiple users via communications paths 20.
Each user has user equipment 22 for displaying the
television program listings and information for the
other services using an interactive television program
guide. Many features of the interactive television
program guide are provided by executing instructions
with a microprocessor or similar control circuitry
within user equipment 22. Communication paths 20
preferably have sufficient bandwidth to allow
distribution facility 16 to distribute television
programming and other video information to user
equipment 22. Television programming and video
information may also be distributed by distribution
facility 16 over communications paths separate from
communications paths 20.
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Certain program guide functions may require
user equipment 22 to transmit data to distribution
facility 16 over communications paths 20 (e.g., with a
cable modem, telephone modem, or other suitable return
link). If desired, return data may be transmitted over
separate communications paths (not shown).
An illustrative arrangement for user
equipment 22 is shown in FIG. 2. Television equipment
24 of FIG. 2 receives video and data from television
distribution facility 16 (FIG. 1) at input 26.
Information from the user (e. g., Internet browsing
commands, pay-per-view ordering information, commands
for requesting various digital services, etc.) may be
transmitted to distribution facility 16 via output 27.
During normal television viewing. the user tunes set-
top box 28 to a desired television channel. The signal
for that television channel is then provided at video
output 30 either as a radio-frequency (RF) signal on a
predefined channel (e.g., channel 3 or 4) or as a
demodulated video signal. The video signal at output
is received by videocassette recorder 32, so that
the user may record programs. Program recording and
other features may be controlled by set-top box 28
using control path 34. A typical control path 34
25 involves the use of an infrared transmitter coupled to
the infrared receiver in videocassette recorder 32 that
normally accepts commands from a remote control such as
remote control 40. Remote control 40 may be used to
control set-top box 28, videocassette recorder 32, and
30 television 36.
Television 36 receives RF or demodulated
video signals from videocassette recorder 32 via
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communications path 38. The video signals on
communications path 38 may either be generated by
videocassette recorder 32 when playing back a prerecorded
videocassette or may be passed through from set-top box
28. During normal television viewing, the viewer tunes to
a desired television channel with set-top box 28 and the
corresponding video signals are provided to television 36.
When the user wishes to view interactive television
program guide information, the user may press a "menu"
button on remote control 40. When set-top box 28 receives
commands from remote control 40 that inform set-top box 28
that the menu button has been pressed, processing
circuitry within set-top box 28 displays a program guide
navigator menu in accordance with the present invention on
television 36.
A more generalized embodiment of user equipment
24 (FIG. 2) is shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, video
and data from distribution facility 16 (FIG. 1) is
received by control circuitry 42 of user equipment 44 at
input 43. Video signals are typically provided on
multiple television channels. Data may be provided on a
television channel sideband, in the vertical blanking
interval of a television channel, or by any other suitable
data transmission technique. If desired, information from
the user may be transmitted to distribution facility 16
using output 45. Transmissions to distribution facility
16 may be made using a cable modem, a telephone modem, or
any other suitable transmission arrangement.
The user controls the operation of user
equipment 44 with user input interface 46. User input
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interface 46 may be a pointing device, wireless remote
control, keyboard, touch pad, voice recognition system,
or any other suitable user input device. To watch
television, the user instructs control circuitry 42 to
display a desired television channel on monitor 48. To
use the interactive program guide, the user instructs
control circuitry 42 to display program guide
information on monitor 48.
The functions of control circuitry 42 may be
16 provided using the set-top box arrangement of FIG. 2.
Alternatively, these functions may be integrated into a
personal computer (PC), personal computer and
television (P~/TV), television, or videocassette
recorder. If desired, a combination of such hardware
may be used.
When a user invokes the interactive program
guide (e. g., by entering a command with user input
interface 46), control circuitry 42 initially generates
a navigator menu. Some of the information used to
generate the navigator menu and provide associated
guide functions is semi-permanently stored in control
circuitry 42. Other information for the navigator menu
may be contained in data periodically provided to
control circuitry 42 from data source I4 (FIG. 1) iri
main facility 12 (FIG. 1). This information is
preferably also stored in control circuitry 42, so that
control circuitry 42 can provide most program guide
features without waiting to download further
information from distribution facility 16. Other
program guide features (e.g., Internet access) may use
information that is downloaded in real time.
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An illustrative navigator menu 50 is shown
in FIG. 4. Navigator menu 50, which is displayed on
display screen 52, contains program guide categories
54, 56, and 58. A number of selectable program guide
options are associated with each program guide
category. For example, selectable program guide
options 60 are associated with program guide category
56. In order to avoid visually cluttering display
screen 52, only a few (e. g., three) program guide
categories are preferably shown at the same time.
Additional program guide categories may be accessed by
repositioning program guide categories 54, 56, and 58.
Visual clutter may also be avoided by displaying a
single column of selectable program guide options
(i.e., selectable program guide options 60 associated
with program guide category 56). This arrangement
allows helpful text messages to be displayed in regions
61 and 63.
Text messages may also be displayed in
information region 51. The current time may be
displayed in time region 53. Title bar 55 may be used
to display an informative title, such as "Navigator
Menu." Logo regions 57 and 59 may be used to display
logos identifying the program guide service provider
and cable system operator.
Program guide categories 54, 56, and 58 are
associated with fairly broad groups of program guide
features. For example, program guide category 54 is
associated with Internet services. Program guide
category 56 is associated with television program
listings. Program guide category 58 is associated with
promotional information for the user's cable system
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operator (sometimes called a multiple system operator
or MSO). Selectable program guide options 60 are
associated with more specific program guide features.
The selectable program guide options displayed below a
given program guide category belong to that program
guide category.
Because program guide categories such as
program guide categories 54, 56, and 58 are associated
with broad groups of program guide features, it is
possible to organize the program guide features of a
fairly complex interactive program guide using
relatively few such program guide categories. The
number of selectable program guide options that are
associated with a given program guide category depends
on the number and type of program guide options used in
the system, but is typically about five to ten
selectable program guide options per category. The
structure of navigator menu 50 allows a user to reach a
given selectable program guide with a relatively small
number of keystrokes and without navigating through
numerous nested menu layers.
A highlight region such as highlight region
62 is used to define the current position of the user
in the selectable program guide options of navigator
menu 50. Information related to the currently
highlighted selectable program guide option may be
displayed in region 61. Information related to the
program guide category associated with the currently
highlighted selectable program guide option may be
displayed in region 63.
The user positions highlight region 62 by
entering suitable commands with user input interface 46
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(FIG. 3). An illustrative user input interface 46 is
remote control 64 of FIG. 5. Depressing menu button 66
invokes the program guide and causes control circuitry
42 (FIG. 3) to display navigator menu 50 on monitor 48
(FIG. 3). If highlight region 62 is positioned on a
selectable program guide option, pressing menu button
66 causes control circuitry 42 to exit the program
guide. If the user has selected a given selectable
program guide option and is presently using an
associated program guide feature (e.g., by filling out
a pay-per-view order screen or by setting up favorite
channels, etc.), pressing menu button 66 preferably
returns highlight region 62 to the given program guide
option.
Up key 68 and down key 70 are vertical
cursor keys that are used to move highlight 62 up or
down within program guide options. For example, if "by
title" selectable program guide option 60 of FIG. 4 is
highlighted, keys 68 and 70 may be used to move to "by
time" selectable program guide option 60 or "by
channel" selectable program guide option 60.
Selectable program guide options 60 may be scrolled if
there are more selectable program guide options 60 than
will conveniently fit on display screen 52 at one time.
Alternatively, additional pages of selectable program
guide options may be displayed whenever the user moves
highlight region 62 past the first or last displayed
program guide option. The presence of additional
selectable program guide options 60 in the column of
selectable program guide options 60 shown in FIG. 4 is
indicated by arrow 71.
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Left key 72 and right key 74 are horizontal
cursor keys that are used to shift new selectable
program guide options and program guide categories
into the central column position in place of a
previously displayed program guide category and
associated options. For example, if one of the
program guide selectable program guide options 60 of
FIG. 4 is highlighted, key 72 may be used to shift
program guide category 58 and the selectable program
guide options associated with program guide category 58
into the central column of display screen 52. Key 74
may be used to shift program guide category 54 and the
selectable program guide options associated with
program guide category 54 into the central column of
display screen 52.
Select button 76 allows the user to select a
given selectable program option. For example, if
highlight 62 is on "by time" selectable program guide
option 60 as shown in FIG. 4, pressing select button 76
(FIG. 5) causes control circuitry 42 (FIG. 3) to
display a time-ordered grid of television program
listings on monitor 48 (FIG. 3) based on the television
listings data provided by distribution facility 16
(FIG. 1) .
An illustrative program grid 78 is shown in
FIG. 6. Rows of grid 78 contain p:. 3ram listings.
Each row contains information for a different
television channel. Columns of grid 78 are associated
with different scheduled broadcast times for the
programs (e. g., 9:00 AM, 9:30 AM, and 10:00 AM).
Program grid 78 has title bar 80, which may be used to
identify the current display format of the program
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guide (e.g., with a text label such as "what's on").
Logos 82 may be contained within title bar 80. One
logo may identify the provider of the interactive
television program guide and the other logo may -
identify the MSO of the distribution facility 16.
Instructions related to the user of the program guide
may be shown in information region 89. The current
time may be displayed in time region 86.
Program grid 78 preferably has highlight
region 88. Pressing select button 76 (FIG. 5) when
highlight region 88 is on a given television program in
grid 78 may cause control circuitry 42 (FIG. 3) to tune
to the television channel for the selected program.
Information for a highlighted program may be obtained
by pressing info button 90 (FIG. 5) while highlight
region 88 is on the television program listing for
which more information is desired.
Remote control 64 (FIG. 5) also has channel
number buttons 92, channel up button 94, and channel
down button 96 for selecting television channels.
Power button 98 and additional buttons 100 may be
provided to support additional program guide and user
equipment control features.
Selecting a program guide option from
navigator menu 50 of FIG. 4 may result in the immediate
execution of an associated program guide function. For
example, when select button 76 (FIG. 5) is pressed
while highlight 62 (FIG. 4) is on "by time" selectable
program guide option 60 (FIG. 4), program grid 78 (FIG.
6) is displayed without need for further user
intervention. However, selecting other program guide
options (such as "by themes" selectable program guide
_.__ ..._.._._.._._.
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option 60 (FIG. 4) may result in additional options
being presented to the user (e. g., an option allowing
the user to select a desired theme.)
The logical structure of an illustrative
embodiment of the program guide navigator menu
structure of the present invention is shown in the
schematic diagram of FIG. 7. Program guide navigator
menu structure 102 has program guide categories 104,
106, 108, 110, and 112. Each program guide category
has an associated group of selectable program guide
options in that category of service.
Program guide category 104 (Internet Gateway)
is related to services in the Internet category. For
example, selectable program guide option 104a relates
to online program guide information. When a user
selects program guide option 104a, control circuitry 42
connects the user to a web site containing program
guide services via Internet access equipment at
distribution facility 16. In making such a connection,
data from control circuitry 42~is transmitted to
distribution facility 16 via output 45. Data from
distribution facility 16 is provided to control
circuitry 42 via input 43. When the user selects
program guide option 104b, the user is presented with a
local cable operator's web site. General Internet
access is provided by selecting program guide option
104c.
Program guide category 106 (Digital Services)
is related to digital information services. Selectable
program guide options 106a, 106b, and 106c are
associated with program guide category 106. Selectable
program guide option 106a relates to sports
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information. When the user selects program guide
option 106a, control circuitry 42 (FIG. 3) presents
sports-related information on monitor 48. Sports
information may include scores, game highlights, etc.
When the user selects program guide option 106b,
weather information such as current local weather,
forecasts, etc. is provided. Selecting program guide
option 106c provides access to news information. The
data required to provide the content for selectable
program guide options 106a, 106b, and 106c is
preferably downloaded to control circuitry 42 (FIG. 3)
from distribution facility 16 (FIG. 1). The data may
be stored in control circuitry 42 and periodically
updated. If desired, such data may also be provided in
real time. Real time data is accessed by sending
requests to distribution facility 16 via output 45
(FIG. 3). Distribution facility 16 provides the
requested data to user equipment 44 (FIG. 3) in real
time via input 43 (FIG. 3).
Program guide category 108 (Program Guide) is
related to television program guide listings.
Selecting program guide option 108a causes
control circuitry 42 (FIG. 3) to display a grid of
television program listings on monitor 48 (FIG. 3) that
are organized by channel, as shown in FIG. 6.
Program guide option 108b allows program
listings information to be displayed in an
alphanumerically-ordered list. Selectable program
guide option 108b preferably allows the user to enter
the first several letters of a desired title. Vertical
cursor keys 68 and 70 (FIG. 5) can be used to toggle
between letters. Select key 76 can be used to select a
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desired letter. Horizontal cursor keys ~2 and 74 (FIG.
5) can be used to move between letter positions.
Program guide option 108c allows program
listings to be organized by channel. For example, a
program list may be displayed that contains 24 hours of
programming for channel 2, followed by 24 hours of
programming for channel 3, followed by 24 hours of
programming for channel 4, etc. Within each 24 hours
of listed programming for a given channel, program
listings may be organized chronologically.
Program guide option 108d provides a calender
option. The user can view program listings information
for several days in advance. Selecting program guide
option 108d presents the user with a calendar from
which the user can select a given date and time of
interest. Once the user has selected a desired date
and time from the calendar, a program grid such as
program grid 78 of FIG. 6 may be displayed containing
program listings information for that date and time.
~ Program guide option 108e relates to theme
selection. Once selectable program guide option 108e
is selected, the user may select a desired theme (e. g.,
movies, sports, children. news, comedy, or soaps) from
a list. The program listings for the selected theme
may be displayed in any suitable format, such as a
channel-ordered, time-ordered, or theme-ordered (genre-
ordered) list. If desired, the choice of which display
format is to be used may be left to the user.
Program guide option 108f allows the program
guide to display a program listings grid for prime time
television programs.
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Program guide options 1088, 108h, and 108i
allow program guide listings to be displayed for the
genres of "movies," "sports," and "kids." Such program
listings can be displayed in the same format used to
display program listings information following theme
selection under selectable program guide option 108e.
Because there are nine selectable program
guide options 108a-i, whereas only six selectable
program guide options are preferably displayed at a
time, accessing all nine of selectable program guide
options 108a-i involves the scrolling or paging of
program guide option. For example, selectable program
guide options 108a-f may initially be displayed in a
column below program guide category 108. Highlight
region 62 (FIG. 4) is initially positioned on
selectable program guide option 108a when navigator
menu 50 is invoked by pressing menu key 66 (FIG. 5).
Program guide options 108a-i are preferably
organized in a logically continuous vertically-linked
loop, so that the user can scroll or page through the
displayed selectable program guide options using
vertical cursor keys 68 and 70. Line 113 illustrates
how a user can cause selectable program guide option
108a to be displayed after selectable program guide
option lOBh has been displayed by further use of down
cursor key 70. Manipulation of vertical keys 68 and 70
preferably does not move highlight region 62 beyond the
list of program guide options.
Program guide categories 104, 106, 10B, I10,
and 112 and their associated selectable program guide
options form a logically continuous horizontally-linked
loop, as shown by logical flow lines 115. Lines 114
~. ........
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and 116 illustrate the logical flow in program guide
navigator menu structure 102 when a user presses a
horizontal cursor key while an illustrative selectable
program guide option (i.e., selectable program guide
option 108d) is highlighted. Pressing right cursor key
74 (FIG. 5) preferably causes selectable program guide
options 110a-f to be displayed in the central column of
display screen 52 in place of selectable program guide
options 108a-i and causes highlight region 62 (FIG. 4)
to move from selectable program guide option 108d to
selectable program guide option 110d. The vertical
position of selectable program guide option 110d is the
same as the previous vertical position of selectable
program guide option 108d, so that the vertical
position of highlight region 62 does not change.
Pressing left cursor key 72 (FIG. 5) preferably causes
selectable program guide options 106a-c to be displayed
in the central column of display screen 52 in place of
selectable program guide options i08a-i and causes
highlight region 62 (FIG. 4) to move from selectable
program guide option 108d to selectable program guide
option 106c. Although the vertical position of
selectable program guide option 106c is not identical
to the previous vertical position of selectable program
guide option 108d, the vertical position of selectable
program guide option 106c is as close as possible to
that of selectable program guide option 108d.
If desired, highlight region 62 can be moved
to the top selectable program guide option position
(e. g., 106a or 110a) whenever a new program guide
category and its associated selectable program guide
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options are moved into the horizontally central
position using a horizontal cursor key.
Program guide category 110 (MSO Showcase) is
related to services of the type offered by a multiple
system operator (MSO) or cable system operator.
Selectable program guide options 110a-f are associated
with program guide category 110. When a user selects
program guide option 110a, upcoming pay-per-view events
are displayed in a time-ordered list. When a user
selects program guide option ll0b, upcoming pay-per-
view events are displayed in a title-ordered list.
When selectable program guide option 110c is selected,
information on special pay-per-view events such as
boxing events and other one-time events is displayed.
Information on premium television services such as
premium movie channels is provided at selectable
program guide option 110d. Selectable program guide
option 110e allows the user to access information about
the MSO, such as who to call for technical assistance
or information about service options. Selectable
program guide option IlOf contains information on adult
services. In addition to presenting information on
Service options, selectable program guide options 110a-
d and 110f may provide the user with information such
as a telephone number to call or an order screen to
fill out so that the user can order pay-per-view
events, special events,, premium channels, and adult
services.
Program guide category 112 (Viewer Choices)
is related to viewer-selectable options. Selectable
program guide options 112a-f are associated with
program guide category 112. When a user selects
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program guide option 112a, the user is allowed to set
up a list of favorite channels. Selectable program
guide option 112b allows the user to select programs to
be recorded by a videocassette recorder such as
videocassette recorder 32 (FIG. 2). Selectable program
guide option 112c relates to messages sent from the
cable system operator at distribution facility 16 (FIG.
1) to customers. For example, a message could contain
information on a special offer for an upcoming pay-per-
view event. Selectable program guide option 112d
allows the user to set limits, such as a monthly
spending limit for a family's pay-per-view account.
Selecting program guide option 112e allows the user to
set configurable options for user equipment 44 (FIG.
3). Program guide option 112f provides the user with
helpful information relating to viewer choices.
If desired, program guide categories can be
displayed in a vertical column instead of a horizontal
row. This type of arrangement is shown in FIG. 8. On
display screen 118, program guide categories 120, 122,
and 124 are arranged in a column. Although it is
possible to fit more program guide categories onto
display screen 118, only approximately three program
guide categories are preferably displayed at a time to
avoid visually cluttering the display. The
availability of additional program guide categories
and associated selectable program guide options is
indicated by arrows 126 and 128. Selectable program
guide options 120a, 120b, 120c, and 120d are associated
with program guide category 120. Selectable program
guide options 122a, 122b, 122c, and 122d are associated
with program guide category 122. Selectable program
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guide options 124a, 124b, 124c, and 124d are associated
with program guide category 124. The availability of
additional selectable program guide options 122 in the
vertically central row of display screen 118 is
indicated by arrow 123.
Program guide options 122a-d and associated
program guide category 122 are preferably displayed in
the vertically center row of display screen 118.
Alternatively, these items may be displayed in the top
row, the bottom row, or any other desired row if more
than three rows are displayed.
Program guide options 120a-d and selectable
program guide options 124a-d can be hidden from view,
which allows informative messages such as those shown
in FIG. 4 to be displayed above and below selectable
program guide options 122a-d. Alternatively, as shown
FIG. 8, selectable program guide options 120a-d and
selectable program guide options 124a-d may be
displayed with a diminished visibility relative to
selectable program guide options 122a-d. Such a
diminished visibility may be accomplished by displaying
otherwise colored program guide categories in black and
white, by displaying selectable program guide options
as though they were not focused, by reducing the image
intensity of the selectable program guide options, or
by otherwise distorting the display format of
selectable program guide options 120x-d and 124a-d.
These arrangements reduce visual clutter and focus the
attention of the user on the centrally-displayed row of
selectable program guide options, while simultaneously
providing the user with a strong visual cue regarding
the presence of selectable program guide options 120a-d
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and 124a-d. Because displaying selectable program
guide options 120a-d and 124a-d with diminished
visibility occupies most of the screen area above and
below selectable program guide options 122a-d, an
information region 130 may be used to display
information for the current selectable program guide
option (i.e., highlighted selectable program guide
option 122b) and its associated program guide category
(i.e., program guide category 122). The current time
may be displayed in region 132.
Navigation with the menu structure shown in
FIG. 8 is preferably similar to navigation with the
menu structure shown in FIG. 4, except that the
functions of horizontal cursor keys 72 and 74 and the
functions of vertical cursor keys 68 and 70 are
reversed. For example, the user can change the
horizonal position of highlight region 134 within
selectable program guide options 122a-d using
horizontal cursor keys 72 and 74. To move a new
program guide category and associated selectable
program guide options into the vertically central row
of display screen 118, the user may press either up key
68 or down key 70.
The foregoing is merely illustrative of the
principles of this invention and various modifications
can be made by those skilled in the art without
departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.
For example, any suitable number of program guide
categories may be used and any suitable number of
program guide categories may be displayed on the screen
at one time. Similarly, any suitable number of
selectable program guide options may be used and any
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suitable number of selectable program guide options may
be displayed on the screen at one time. In addition,
any suitable number of selectable program guide options
may be associated with a given program guide category.
Various program guide categories and program guide
options may be used.
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